


■ 



KIRK 



LIBRARY OF" CONGRESS. 
Shelf.1 ? 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




Landmarks » Minnesota 



ELEMENTS OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT 



STATE OF MINNESOTA 



BRIEF OUTLINE OF THE POLITICAL 
HISTORY OF THE STATE 



DESIGNED FOR USE AS A TEXT-BOOK IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE 
SCHOOLS, AND FOR SUPPLEMENTARY READING 



BY 

Vr / 
T. H. KIRK, M.L. 

Assistant State Superintendent of Public Instruction 




37 o n y 



/ 



SILVER. BURDETT & CO., PUBLISHERS 

New York BOSTON Chicago 

i8q2 



r- 






Copyright, 1892, 
By SILVER, BURDETT & CO. 



Typography by J. S. Cushing & Co., Boston. 
Presswork by Berwick & Smith, Boston. 



PREFACE. 



Americans revere the fathers of the Republic, and are 
never weary in telling of their great deeds. They speak, 
too, with enthusiasm of the thirteen original colonies and 
the states that grew out of them. All this is very proper ; 
but .we must not forget that heroic deeds, noble men, and 
typical forms of government belong quite as much to the 
present as to the past. Indeed, the people of the future will 
look back to our day with admiration, as we now look back 
to an older past. It is surely a good thing, from whatever 
standpoint viewed, to study the forms of government which 
now exist, and which one finds round about him. Besides, 
nobody can be an intelligent citizen who does not do this. 
Above all, one should be familiar with the forms of govern- 
ment in his own state and community. It is for these 
reasons, in fact, that this brief outline of the state and local 
governments of Minnesota has been prepared. 

The plan of the book is historical. It takes us back to 
a time when no government existed save that of savage 
tribes, and leads us through a series of rapid changes to the 
civilization of the present. The government of Minnesota 
Territory has been introduced because it was an important 
step in this development, besides being of interest in itself. 

3 



4 PREFACE. 

It has been the custom to confine the study of civil 
government almost entirely to the chief legislative, judicial, 
and executive functions. This, it seems to me, is a mistake; 
and in Chapters V. to VIII. inclusive place has been given 
to many things which every citizen ought to understand. 

Aside from a few sets of suggestive questions and black- 
board outlines, the method of teaching has been left to the 
good sense and experience of the teacher. 

So far as I know, this is the only special treatise on the 
civil government of Minnesota yet published, and I hope it 
may find its way into every school-house and home in the 

State ' T. H. KIRK. 

St. Paul, June i, 1892. 



THE HISTORY AND CIVIL GOVERNMENT 

OF THE 

STATE OF MINNESOTA. 

CHAPTER I. 

HISTORICAL SKETCH. 

The Unknown Land. — In 1643, Louis XIV., the 
great king of France, was but a child of five, and not 
old enough to understand about those wonders of the 
western world which at a later day attracted him. But, 
child as he was, his subjects knew little more about it 
than he. Nobody had thought that a great republic 
would one day exist there whose splendid achievements 
for human liberty and progress would win the admira- 
tion of mankind. That part of the New World now 
called Minnesota was an unknown land, and, like all 
the other unknown lands which the over-credulous 
people of that day imagined, it was a land of romance 
and fable, full of great rivers, powerful nations, and 
untold wealth. Indeed, just beyond it, they said, was 
the sea separating China from America. 

Early Explorers. — In 1634, Jean Nicolet, a bright, 
venturesome interpreter of a Canadian fur company, 

5 



6 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 

visited the Indian tribes in what is now Wisconsin. It 
seems that he learned from them something about the 
Dakotas, or Sioux, who inhabited the region beyond the 
upper Mississippi. On his return to Canada, Nicolet 
told what he had heard about them. Later, in 1641, 
two French ensigns visited the Sault Ste. Marie and 
heard of this same nation, who were said to dwell 
eighteen days' journey to the westward, at the head of 
a great river. Fifteen years after this, a half religious, 
half adventurous expedition from Quebec set out to 
find the Dakotas ; but it was foiled by the hostile 
Iroquois, who massacred many of its members. The 
expedition of Groselliers and Radisson, two celebrated 
explorers, was more fortunate. In 1660, they coasted 
along the southern shore of Lake Superior and built a 
rude fort at the southern extremity of Chaqwamigon 
Bay. The following spring, a detachment of the garri- 
son ran across a party of wandering Dakotas and 
returned with them to their lodges on the western 
prairies. So far as known, these were the first white 
men to enter what is now called Minnesota. Before 
the end of the century, many noted explorers, among 
whom were Perrot, Du Luth, Le Sueur, and Father 
Hennepin, had traced the windings of its picturesque 
river valleys and penetrated both its prairie and forest 
regions. Forts were built on the lower Blue Earth 
River, on an island of the Mississippi, near the mouth of 
the St. Croix, and on the west shore of Lake Pepin. 

The Voyageurs. — Following closely in the footsteps 
of the explorers came the voyageurs, or rangers of the 
woods, as they were sometimes called. They were fur 
traders ; and it was not long before the plash of their 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 7 

paddles was heard on every stream, and their songs in 
every thicket, as they wandered from one Indian village 
to another in search of pelts. They might be called 
the forerunners of civilization, but they were not truly 
a part of it. Upon entering the woods they threw off 
civil restraints, and counted themselves law-abiding in 
simply keeping their agreements with the fur com- 
panies and owning allegiance to the king of France. 

The French Supremacy. — For the first sixty-three 
years of the eighteenth century the French remained 
masters of the country they had explored. It was with 
them a time of varying fortunes, — of successes and 
failures in extending the fur trade, of hopeless searches 
for a northwest passage by way of a "mighty" river 
supposed to enter the western sea, of warfare with 
hostile tribes, and of movements to resist the encroach- 
ments of the English, who too were seeking for com- 
mercial profit and a greater empire. 

The English Supremacy. — After the nine years' strug- 
gle of the French and Indian War, by the treaty of 1763 
the English became the nominal masters of that part of 
the Northwest lying east of the Mississippi. But the 
French, nevertheless, continued to be its actual masters. 
The Indians had always looked upon the French with 
favor, and through the friendships and intermarriages of 
a century had also come to think of them as their own 
kindred. The sharp-witted Frenchmen had no difficulty 
therefore in leading- the Indians to distrust the good 
intentions of the English, who came with offers of trade 
and friendship. The result was, the English did not 
find it worth while to build military and trading posts 
west of Mackinaw ; and the only explorer of note who 



8 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 

represented them was the self-appointed Jonathan 
Carver, who, in the fall of 1766, visited the region about 
St. Anthony Falls and made a partial ascent of the 
Minnesota or St. Peter's River. 

The Dawn of a New Nation. — It was not long after 
the events narrated that a new nation entered the field 
of military and social conquest. Twenty years after 
the English had acquired possession of the Northwest, 
they yielded it to their revolted colonies now styled the 
United States of America. But just as the French 
had withstood the English occupation of the country, 
the English themselves annoyed their former American 
subjects, who with native energy were now endeavoring 
to open it for trade and settlement. 

Military Expeditions. — To check the boldness of 
the British fur traders, and to restrain the tribes made 
hostile by their false statements about the purposes of 
the Americans, it became necessary to overawe both by 
a show of military strength. As a first step in this 
direction, General Zebulon M. Pike was sent out in the 
year 1805 with a small detachment of soldiers. His ex- 
plorations extended as far north as Leech Lake. 

In 18 17, Major Stephen H. Long made a cursory sur- 
vey to find a suitable site for a fort. Two years later 
Colonel Leavenworth established Cold Water Canton- 
ment at Mendota ; and in 1820 Fort Snelling was built 
at the junction of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers. 

The Later Fur Traders. — The United States hav- 
ing thus asserted its authority, the Northwest and Hud- 
son Bay Fur Companies, so long masters of trade under 
British protection, now confined their operations for the 
most part to the British Possessions, and the American 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. 9 

and Columbia Companies took active possession of the 
deserted field. By this time the Indians had become 
less self-reliant. The fruits of the chase no longer 
satisfied them, and they depended more and more upon 
the whites for the necessaries of life. It will be easy to 
understand then how the system of barter which sprang 
up between them and the fur companies paved the way 
for the entrance of civilization into their ancient domain, 
and at the same time made them familiar with its ordi- 
nary modes of domestic life. It is quite certain that in 
their first contact with it they saw more of its selfish 
than of its unselfish side. Their suspicions and hatred 
were often aroused, and these led to feuds which were 
not settled until after years of controversy and blood- 
shed. 

Commercial and Scientific Expeditions. — To estab- 
lish firmer relations with the tribes, to treat with them 
for cessions of their lands, and to determine to some 
extent the value of the region as a place of settlement, 
expeditions both of a commercial and scientific character 
were sent out by the national government. The first of 
the three most important ones was led by Lewis Cass,, 
governor of Michigan. In 1820, it entered the country 
by way of the St. Louis River and explored toward the 
head waters of the Mississippi. The second, in 1823, 
was commanded by Major Stephen H. Long. It ex- 
plored the valleys of the Minnesota and Red rivers and 
the chain of rivers and lakes on the northern boundary. 
The third, led by Henry R. Schoolcraft in 1832, fol- 
lowed the route of Cass, but penetrated the country as 
far as Lake Itasca. Thence it journeyed southward to 
Fort Snelling, and, finally, ascended the St. Croix. 



IO CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 

The Missionaries. — It was now two centuries after 
the time of Jean Nicolet, who, as above stated, had been 
the first to mention the Dakotas. But it would be an 
error to think that in all that period nobody had given 
heed to the welfare of the Indians. From the time of 
the earliest explorers, whose expeditions they accom- 
panied, devoted Catholic priests with little regard for 
profits of trade and political power, both of which ab- 
sorbed their companions, were earnest in their efforts 
to benefit the tribes socially and religiously. With the 
same interest and earnestness, the first Protestant mis- 
sionary, W. T. Boutwell, came with the Schoolcraft 
expedition and remained to teach among the Ojibwas of 
Leech Lake. A year later, that is in 1833, two brothers, 
Samuel W. and Gideon H. Pond, established the Mis- 
sion of Lake Calhoun. In 1836, Dr. Thomas S. William- 
son and party established the Mission of Lac qui Parle, 
and the following year they w r ere joined by Stephen R. 
Rio-o-s and wife. There were other faithful missionaries 
in neighboring fields, but the names of these, after years 
of toil and danger, became pre-eminently historic. 

First Settlements. — Previous to 1826, if we except 
the traders of St. Peter's, or Mendota, there were no 
permanent inhabitants in what is now Minnesota. In 
the summer of that year the first real settlement was 
made near Fort Snelling by a few Swiss farmers who 
had fled from the hardships of the Selkirk colony. 
Gradually others followed them. In 1840, the good 
Father Lucian Galtier built the chapel of St. Paul 
where the flourishing city of that name is now situated ; 
but three years later there were probably not more than 
twenty families belonging to the little village that sur- 



HISTORICAL SKETCH. II 

rounded the chapel. At St. Anthony Falls a small 
grist and lumber mill and a few cabins were the nucleus 
of the progressive city of Minneapolis, now the metropo- 
lis. Indeed, in the great region surrounding these min- 
iature cities there were at the outside not more than a 
few hundred inhabitants. 

Territorial Jurisdiction. — If the Minnesota region 
lacked civilized inhabitants, it had no lack of rulers. 
After the Revolution and before the first half of the 
nineteenth century had passed, that part of Minnesota 
lying east of the Mississippi was controlled successively 
by the Northwest Territory, Indiana Territory, Illinois 
Territory, Michigan Territory, and Wisconsin Terri- 
tory ; and the part west by Louisiana Province, 'Louis- 
iana District, Louisiana Territory, Missouri Territory, 
[Michigan Territory, Wisconsin Territory, and Iowa 
Territory. Of course the jurisdiction of these various 
territories was not very rigid. It could not be in a 
country so vast and wild, whose only roads were Indian 
trails, or at best water courses traversed in winter by dog 
trains and in summer by canoes. Only now and then a 
United States marshal appeared to vindicate the maj- 
esty of the law ; and no doubt many a crime was com- 
mitted which the desolate plains and the deep, silent 
forests never revealed. 



12 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OE MINNESOTA. 



CHAPTER II. 
BEGINNINGS OF SELF-GOVERNMENT. 

Wisconsin Territory. — In 1848, Wisconsin as now 
bounded was admitted to the Union. Its admission 
apparently left a large portion of its former territory 
without a government ; namely, that part of it situated 
west of the St. Croix and Mississippi'rivers. This was 
denied by Governor Catlin and others, who claimed that 
the government of Wisconsin Territory was still intact 
and that its domain was the country excluded from the 
newly admitted state. But it was evident that the peo- 
ple were not satisfied with this view of things ; and 
they were active in their endeavors to secure a new 
territorial organization. At this time the total popula- 
tion was less than five thousand. While this seems a 
small number nowadays, it did not in the least win the 
people from their purpose nor discourage their ambi- 
tions. It was this energy doubtless that brought their 
efforts to a speedy and successful conclusion and laid 
the foundation of a lasting prosperity for the new com- 
monwealth. 

The Organic Act. — A temporary government, styled 
the Territory of Minnesota, was established by act of 
Congress, March 3, 1849. Within its limits were in- 
cluded the present State of Minnesota and by far the 
larger part of the two Dakotas. It was such a great 



BEGINNINGS OF SELF-GOVERNMENT. 1 3 

stretch of country that the United States very properly 
reserved the right to divide it at any time for the pur- 
pose of forming new territories or attaching portions of 
it to others already formed. This Organic Act, being 
typical of the organic acts of other territories, and 
being the foundation too of the more permanent gov- 
ernment of the State, deserves here a brief but careful 
review. 

The Executive. — The executive power was vested in 
a governor whose term of office was four years. But he 
was subject to removal at any time by the President of 
the United States. He was required to reside within 
the Territory, to act as commander-in-chief of the militia, 
to perform the duties of superintendent of Indian affairs, 
and to commission all officers appointed under the laws 
of the Territory. He had power to pardon offenses 
against the laws of the Territory, and to grant reprieves 
for offenses against those of the United States subject 
to the final decision of the President. 

The Secretary. — The next in power to the governor 
was the secretary. His tenure of office was like the 
governor's as to length of time and removal. He was 
required to record all executive acts and proceedings of 
the governor, and to record and preserve all laws and 
proceedings of the Legislative Assembly. Moreover, 
he was required to send copies of the executive proceed- 
ings and legislative enactments to the President of the 
United States, the president of the Senate, and the 
speaker of the House of Representatives. Finally, in 
case of the absence, death, removal, or resignation of 
the governor, he was to become temporarily the chief 
executive officer of the Territory. 



14 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 

The Legislative Assembly. — The legislative power 
was vested in the governor and a legislative assembly. 
This legislative assembly consisted of two bodies desig- 
nated the Council and House of Representatives. At 
first, the Council had nine members, whose term of 
office was two years, and the House of Representatives 
eighteen members, whose term was one year. 

All members were required to have the qualifications 
prescribed for voters. No person, save a postmaster, 
holding a commission or office under the United States 
could be a member of the Legislature, or hold any other 
office under the Territory. Neither could a member 
hold during his term or the year succeeding it an office 
created during said term or whose salary had been 
increased within the same. 

Both houses could be increased in proportion to the 
growth of population, save that the number of coun- 
cillors could not exceed fifteen and the number of rep- 
resentatives thirty-nine. The Territory was divided into 
election districts corresponding to the two classes of 
legislators, and it was required that each legislator 
should be a resident of the district he was elected to 
represent. No session of the legislative assembly could 
extend beyond sixty days. 

The legislative power extended to all subjects con- 
sistent with the Constitution of the United States, but 
it was specified that no law should be passed to inter- 
fere with the primary disposal of the soil, to tax the 
property of non-residents more than that of residents, 
and to tax the property of the United States. Besides, 
all laws were subject to the veto of Congress. 

All bills passed by the Legislative Assembly had to 



BEGINNINGS OF SELF-GOVERNMENT. 15 

be submitted to the governor for his approval or veto, 
but they could be passed over his veto by a two-thirds 
majority of both houses. In such a case, members were 
required to vote by yeas and nays, and their votes were 
entered upon the journals of the Assembly. 

If the governor did not return a bill within three days, 
Sundays excepted, it became a law without his signa- 
ture, provided the adjournment of the Assembly did not 
prevent its return within the time specified. 

The Courts. — The judicial power of the Territory 
was vested in four kinds of courts ; namely, justice 
courts, probate courts, district courts, and a supreme 
court. Both the appellate and original jurisdiction of 
these courts was to be defined by statute law, save in 
certain cases hereafter mentioned, and save that the 
jurisdiction of the supreme and district courts should 
be allowed to extend to cases both in common law and 
chancery. 

Supreme Court. — The supreme court had a chief and 
two associate justices, any two of whom constituted a 
quorum. Their tenure of office was four years ; and 
they were allowed to appoint a clerk for the court and 
dismiss him at pleasure. This court was required to 
hold a term annually at the seat of government. Its 
jurisdiction extended to writs of error, bills of exception, 
and appeals, from the district courts, but it was not 
allowed to conduct trials by jury. Writs of error and 
appeals from its decisions could be made to the su- 
preme court of the United States when the value of the 
controversy was not less than a thousand dollars. It 
was required that the regulations of the circuit courts of 
the United States should be followed in all such appeals. 



16 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OE MINNESOTA. 

District Courts. — The Territory was divided into 
three judicial districts. In each of these a district 
court, over which one of the justices of the supreme 
court presided, was held at times and places prescribed 
by law ; and the justice so presiding was required to 
live within the district. Each district court appointed 
a person to act as clerk and as register in chancery, and 
he was required to keep office at the place where the 
court was regularly held. The jurisdiction of the dis- 
trict courts extended to cases under the laws of the 
Territory, and in all cases under the laws and Constitu- 
tion of the United States its jurisdiction was the same 
as that of the circuit and district courts of the United 
States. The first six days of every session of a district 
court, or such part of them as was needed for the pur- 
pose, was required to be devoted to such cases under 
the United States Constitution and laws. 

Minor Courts. — Justice courts were for the trial of 
petty cases ; but no justice court could hear cases 
respecting the title and boundary of land, nor any 
involving a money value exceeding a hundred dol- 
lars. 

Probate courts served the same purposes as now 
under the state. 

Attorney and Marshal. — The chief officers of the 
courts were an attorney and a marshal. The term of 
each was four years. It was the duty of the attorney to 
advise the executive officers and to act as counsel in all 
cases in which the Territory was a party ; and the mar- 
shal was required to serve all processes of the district 
courts when acting as district and circuit courts of the 
United States. 



BEGINNINGS OF SELF-GOVERNMENT. 1 7 

Appointment of Territorial Officers. — The governor, 
chief justice, associate justices, attorney, and marshal 
were appointed by the President and confirmed by the 
Senate of the United States ; and all had to make oath 
or affirmation that they would faithfully discharge their 
duties and uphold the Constitution of the United 
States. 

All local officers, township, county, and district, were 
to be appointed or elected in whatever manner the gov- 
ernor and Legislative Assembly should provide. 

Delegate to Congress. — Provision was made for the 
election of a delegate to the House of Representatives 
of the United States ; and he was to have the powers 
and privileges accorded to delegates from other terri- 
tories. His term of office was two years. 

Right of Suffrage. — Every male inhabitant of Minne- 
sota Territory, having come to reside in it before the 
passage of the Organic Act, was allowed to vote at 
the first election and was eligible to any office within 
the Territory provided he was free, white, and twenty- 
one or more years of age. Thereafter qualifications of 
voters and eligibility to office were to be determined by 
the Legislative Assembly, save that none but citizens 
of the United States or those who had taken oath to 
become such were then qualified or eligible. 

Education. — One of the most important sections of 
the Organic Act made provision for the support of 
education. It required that sections sixteen and thirty- 
six of each township, when surveyed, should be set 
aside for the benefit of the public schools, no matter 
to what territory or state the township might finally 
belong. 



1 8 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 

Transition. — Such was the machinery of govern- 
ment provided for the Territory of Minnesota, but some- 
thing else was required to set it in motion ; namely, a 
plan of transition from the government of Wisconsin 
Territory to that of the new, which would work neither 
a temporary nor a lasting injury to any citizen. The 
plan adopted was this : — 

i . All individual and social rights and privileges not inconsistent 
with the Organic Act were to continue, subject to change at a 
proper time. 

2. All pending judicial proceedings, of whatever nature, civil or 
criminal, were to be transferred to the new district courts. 

3. No statutes existing for the new territory, all infractions 
under the laws of the old were subject to trial and punishment in 
the courts of the new. 

4. All bonds and obligations of every character remained valid. 

5. All judicial and ministerial officers, such as justices of the 
peace, constables, and sheriffs, were to continue in power until pro- 
vision could be made for the appointment or election of their suc- 
cessors. 

6. The governor was granted power to establish the judicial dis- 
tricts, to assign the judges thereto, and to determine the times and 
places of holding courts within the same, all until the Legislative 
Assembly, to whom the power permanently belonged, could act or 
should see fit to act. 

7. The first meeting of the Legislative Assembly was to be at St. 
Paul, at which time it was to fix upon a temporary seat of govern- 
ment pending the establishment of a permanent seat by popular 
election. 

8. Finally, financial provision was made for the building of a 
capitol and the purchase of a library for the use of the judicial and 
executive officers of the Territory. 



ORGANIZING THE STATE. 1 9 



CHAPTER III. 
ORGANIZING THE STATE. 

Progress. — Less than eight years after the establish- 
ment of Minnesota Territory it was seeking admission 
to the Union. By this time the population had multi- 
plied thirty-fold. Many farms had been opened up in 
the Big Woods and upon the adjacent prairies. Title to 
large tracts of Indian lands had been secured, and other 
settlers were entering to possess them. Numerous flour- 
ishing settlements had sprung up in the river valleys 
and elsewhere. Commerce, too, was active on the navi- 
gable streams. 

The Enabling Act. — February 26, 1857, Congress 
passed an act preliminary to the admission of Minne- 
sota to the Union. The Enabling Act, as it is called, 
after having defined the boundaries of the State as at 
present, provided for the calling of a constitutional con- 
vention, the taking of a census to determine the repre- 
sentation in Congress, and the disposing of public land 
for the support of education and internal improvements. 

The State Constitution. — The first Monday in June 
the delegates were chosen to the convention, and at 
midnight the beginning of the second Monday in July 
they met in the Capitol at St. Paul. The unusual hour 
of meeting was due to a struggle for supremacy in 
organization between the Republican and Democratic 



20 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 

wings. They could not agree, however, at this time, 
and separated. The result was, two rival conventions 
were organized. But later, harmony having been re- 
stored through compromises, they agreed upon the 
same constitution August 29. In this final form it 
contained fifteen Articles and a Schedule, as follows : — 

Article I. is a bill of rights, and provides for the alteration, modifi- 
cation, and reform of government, at any time deemed necessarv ; 
against slavery, disfranchisement, and involuntary servitude, save 
by process of law and for the punishment of crime ; for the liberty 
of the press and freedom of speech ; for trial by jury in civil cases ; 
against excessive bail and cruel punishments ; for juries, witnesses, 
and counsel in criminal cases ; for indictments by grand jury, the 
granting of bail, and maintaining the privilege of habeas corpus ; 
for remedy on account of injury to person, property, or character ; 
against conviction for treason, save on proper testimony of wit- 
nesses ; against unreasonable search ; against bills of attainder and 
ex post facto laws ; against imprisonment for debt ; for the exemp- 
tion of a reasonable amount of property from seizure for debt ; 
against taking private property for public use without compen- 
sation ; for subordinating the military to the civil power : against 
feudal tenures, and prolonged leases and grants of agricultural 
lands ; against religious and property tests as qualifications for 
holding office or the exercise of suffrage : and, finally, for the 
maintenance of rights inherent in the people, but not mentioned in 
the Constitution itself. 

Ai'ticle II. names' the State and defines its boundaries. 

Article III distributes the powers of government as legislative, 
executive, and judicial. 

A?'ticle IV. sets forth the nature and powers of the legislative 
department. 

Ai'ticle V . names the officers of the executive department, and 
prescribes their powers, duties, and manner of election. 

Article VI deals with the courts and judges of the judiciary 
department. 

Article VII. states the extent and limitations of the elective 
franchise. 



ORGANIZING THE STATE. 2 1 

Article VIII. provides for the establishment and support of a 
public school system, including the State University. 

Article IX. is devoted to state finances, banks, and banking. 

Article X. deals with corporations that do not have banking 
privileges. 

Article XI. treats of the organization of counties and townships. 

Article XII. makes it the duty of the Legislature to pass laws for 
organizing and disciplining the militia. 

Article XIII. provides for impeachments and removals from 
office. 

Article XII '. shows in what manner the Constitution itself may 
be amended. 

Article XV. is a miscellany. It provides for a temporary seat of 
government at St. Paul ; for extending privileges of citizenship and 
taxation to persons residing on Indian lands ; for a uniform oath or 
affirmation ; for a seal of the State ; and for converting the territo- 
rial into a state prison. 

The Schedule. — Just as it had been necessary to pro- 
vide for the transition from a previously existing gov- 
ernment to that of Minnesota Territory, it was now 
necessary to provide a similar transition from the gov- 
ernment of Minnesota Territory to that of Minnesota 
State. The plan involved twenty-two specifications re- 
lating to various legislative, judicial, and executive 
affairs. These specifications formed what is called the 
Schedule. 

Ratification. — The Constitution was submitted to 
the people, and ratified October 13, 1857, by a vote of 
30,055 against 571, thus giving emphasis to the 

" Preamble. We, the people of the State of Minnesota, 
grateful to God for our civil and religious liberty, and 
desiring to perpetuate its blessings and secure the same 
to ourselves a)id our posterity, do ordain and establish 
this Constitution." 



22 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OE MINNESOTA. 

Admission to the Union. — Congress finding the Con- 
stitution of Minnesota satisfactory, passed an act admit- 
ting the State May u, 1858. By this act Minnesota 
was allowed two representatives in Congress, and con- 
stituted a judicial district of the United States district 
courts, with the necessary legal provisions for the 
organization of such a court. 

Amendments. — During the thirty-five years that have 
elapsed since the Constitution was adopted, it has been 
amended in twenty-nine particulars. This shows how 
impossible it is to frame a constitution good for all 
time, and proves that to have been a wise clause in the 
Bill of Rights which reserves to the people the privi- 
lege of modifying their form of government when the 
changes of time imperatively demand it. 



ORGANIZING THE STATE. 23 



QUESTIONS, TOPICS, AND SUGGESTIONS FOR 
REVIEW. 

Designed to recall what has been learned and to suggest further thought, 
reading, and study. 

i. What was known of the New World in the time of Louis 
XIV. ? 

2. What was learned by Jean Nicolet? 

3. Who were the voyageurs, and what were their characteris- 
tics? 

4. What can you say about the French and English suprema- 
cies? 

5. Who led the first military expeditions into Minnesota, and 
what were the purposes of these expeditions ? 

6. What were the characteristics of Indian life in the time of 
the later fur traders? 

7. Describe the commercial and scientific expeditions. 

8. When, where, and by whom were the first missions estab- 
lished? 

9. Who were the first settlers ? 

10. To what governments has the domain of Minnesota been 
subject? 

n. What was the Organic Act, and when was it passed? 

12. In whom was the legislative power of Minnesota Territory 
vested ? The executive ? The judicial ? 

13. Mention some things that were required to change from the 
government of Wisconsin Territory to that of Minnesota. 

14. W^hat was the Enabling Act, and when was it passed? 

15. When and under what circumstances was the Constitution 
of Minnesota adopted? 

16. How many articles does the Constitution contain, and of 
what does each treat ? 

17. What was the Schedule? 

18. When and how decisively was the Constitution ratified? 

19. Repeat the Preamble to the Constitution. 

20. When was Minnesota admitted to the Union? 

21. How many times has the Constitution been amended? 



BLACKBOARD OUTLINE. 

STATE GOVERNMENT. 

THE LEGISLATURE. 

i. Members. 5. Privileges. 

2. Powers. 6. Restrictions. 

3. Duties and Obligations. 7. Bills and Laws. 

4. House. 8. Senate. 

THE EXECUTIVE. 

i. Governor. 4. Auditor. 

2. Lieutenant-Governor. 5. Treasurer. 

3. Secretary of State. 6. Attorney-General. 

THE JUDICIARY. 

1. Supreme Court. 3. Probate Courts. 

2. District Courts. 4. Justices of the Peace. 

24 



DEPARTMENTS OF STATE GOVERNMENT. 25, 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE DEPARTMENTS OF THE STATE GOVERNMENT. 

Section I. — The Legislative Department. 

Having in the last chapter considered the Consti- 
tution as a whole, it is now the pupil's task to take a 
particular view of the three principal departments of 
the state government ; namely, the legislative, executive^ 
and judicial. 

The Legislature. — The Legislature of Minnesota 
consists of two houses called the Senate and House of 
Representatives. Its sessions are biennial and each 
limited to ninety legislative days. But the days need 
not be consecutive, thus allowing necessary recesses. 
The number of members in each house is prescribed by 
law, and increases with the growth of population ; but 
the distribution of members throughout the State must 
be in proportion to the population of the different 
sections in order that all may be justly represented. 
This necessarily gives the Legislature the power, were 
it not specified as it is elsewhere in the Constitution, to 
set the bounds of the representative and senatorial dis- 
tricts. It also determines in like manner the bounds of 
congressional districts. In case of a vacancy in the 
membership of either house the governor is required to 
issue a writ calling for a special election to fill it. 



26 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 

Qualifications and Terms of Members. — A person to 
become a member of the Legislature must be a citizen, 
and immediately prior to his election must have been a 
resident of the State at least one year and his district 
six months. Before entering upon his duties he must 
make oath or affirmation to perform them faithfully and 
to uphold the Constitutions of the United States and 
the State of Minnesota. The term of a representative 
is two years ; of a senator, four. 

Powers. — Each house has power — 

i. To determine whether the qualifications and elections of its 
members are valid. 

2. To transact business when a majority of its members is present. 

3. To adjourn from day to day when only a minority of its mem- 
bers is present. 

4. To compel its members to attend. 

5. To determine its rules of business. 

6. To set its times of adjournment. 

7. To punish and expel members for disorderly conduct. 

8. To disfranchise, conjointly with the other house, persons con- 
victed of infamous crimes. 

9. To punish citizens for bad behavior in its presence. 

10. To elect United States senators conjointly with the other 
house. 

Duties and Obligations. — Each house must — 

1. Keep and publish a journal of its proceedings, and enter 
therein all votes taken by yeas and nays. 

2. Prescribe the manner of taking evidence when its seats are 
contested. 

3. Allow the public to attend its sessions save when secrecy is 
important. 

4. In all its elections vote viva voce and have such votes re- 
corded in its journal. 

5. Pass laws to prevent monopolies of the food and produce 
markets of the State. 



DEPARTMENTS OF STATE GOVERNMENT. 27 

Privileges. — A person is exempt from arrest when 
going to or from the house of which he is a member or 
while attending its sessions. But this privilege does 
not apply in cases of felony, treason, or breach of the 
peace. Xor can a member be elsewhere called to ac- 
count for speech or debate in the Legislature. Two or 
more members may jointly protest against the passage 
of a resolution which they think injurious to individuals 
or the public in general, and have their protest recorded 
in the journal. 

Restrictions. — No member can be expelled twice for 
the same offense. Neither house can adjourn for more 
than three working days at a time ; nor to meet in any other 
place unless the other house consents. No member can 
receive an increase of compensation granted during his 
term. No member can hold office under the United 
States, save that of a postmaster. No money can be 
appropriated save by bill. No joint order, resolution, 
or vote is valid without the governor's signature, save 
when carried over his veto by a two-thirds vote. No 
divorces can be granted. No lotteries can be author- 
ized. Finally, no special legislation is allowable in the 
following particulars : — 

" 1st. For changing the name of a person, or constituting one 
person the heir-at-law of another. 

" 2d. For laying out. opening or altering highways. 

" 3d. For authorizing persons to keep ferries across streams 
wholly within this State. 

"4th. For authorizing the sale or mortgage of real or personal 
property of minors or other persons under disability. 

" 5th. For changing any county seat. 

" 6th. For assessment or collection of taxes, or for extending the 
time for the collection thereof. 



28 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 

••7th. For granting corporate powers or privileges, except to 
cities. 

"8th. For authorizing the apportionment of any part of the 
school fund. 

'•9th. For incorporating any town or village. 

" 10th. For granting to any individual, association, or corpora- 
tion, except municipal, any special or exclusive privilege, immunity, 
or franchise whatever. 

" nth. For vacating roads, town plats, streets, alleys, and public: 
grounds/ 1 

These restrictions of special legislation were for the 
purpose of preventing local and class enactments which 
often worked injustice to the people at large besides 
being a burden upon the Legislature and a source of cor- 
ruption. All such matters are properly provided for 
under the general laws of the State. 

The House of Representatives. — There are certain 
things peculiar to the House. It elects its own pre- 
siding officer. It originates all bills for the raising of 
revenue. It has the sole power of impeachment, but 
an impeachment requires the concurrence of a major- 
ity of its members. 

The Senate. — There are certain things, too, peculiar 
to the Senate. It cannot elect its presiding officer 
save as a president//^ tempore, the lieutenant-governor, 
ex officio, being its regular president. It tries all im- 
peachments arising in the House, and in such cases its 
members are under oath or affirmation to act legally 
and justly. To convict, two-thirds of the senators 
must concur. 

Bills and Laws. — All laws of Minnesota must begin 
with the expression " Be it enacted by the Legislature 
of the State of Minnesota." No law can embrace more 



DEPARTMENTS OF STATE GOVERNMENT. 2g 

than one subject, and this subject must be expressed in 
its title. Unless under the suspension of rules, a bill 
must be read three times in each house on three differ- 
ent days. A majority of the full membership of each 
house is required to pass a bill, and the vote of each 
house upon the same must be recorded in its journal. 
Every bill that passes must be enrolled, and signed by 
the presiding officers of both houses. It is then neces- 
sary to present it to the governor for his signature. 
Should he refuse to sign it, a two-thirds majority of 
both houses may pass it over his veto. Or if he does 
not return it within three days, Sunday excepted, it 
becomes a law without his signature ; provided that 
its return is not prevented by the adjournment of the 
Legislature. No new bill can be introduced during the 
last twenty days of a session without the written con- 
sent of the governor. Nor can a bill be passed on the 
day of final adjournment. Nevertheless it may be en- 
rolled, signed, or transmitted from house to house or 
to the governor on that day. 

Section II. — The Executive Department. 

Executive Officers. — The principal executive officers 
of Minnesota are the governor, lieutenant-governor, 
secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, and attorney- 
general, each serving two years, save the auditor, whose 
term is four. All are bound by oath or affirmation to 
perform their duties faithfully. 

Governor. — The governor must be at least twenty- 
five years of age. It is his duty to communicate with 
the Legislature from time to time, by message, relative 



30 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 

to the welfare of the State. He is commander-in-chief 
of the military and naval forces of the State, and may 
call upon them to suppress insurrections. He has 
power within the State to grant reprieves and pardons 
after persons have been convicted, save in the case of 
impeachments. He appoints the state librarian, nota- 
ries public, and other officers that the law may designate. 
He has power to fill vacancies in elective offices until 
the next subsequent election, and in appointive offices 
until the next meeting of the Legislature. He may 
call extra sessions of the Legislature in cases of emer- 
gency. In all cases he must faithfully execute the 
laws. 

Lieutenant-Governor. — The lieutenant-governor is 
president of the Senate by virtue of his office, and is 
successor of the governor in case of a vacancy ; and if 
for any reason his own office becomes vacant, the presi- 
dent/;^ tempoi'e of the Senate succeeds him. 

Secretary of State. — The secretary of state is the 
custodian of the state seal, laws, and documents. He 
issues state papers, such as proclamations, under the 
direction of the governor ; and he records instruments 
formulated under the statutes, such as the articles of 
incorporation of stock companies. 

Auditor. — Just as the name implies, the auditor is 
the hearer — that is, of all financial claims against the 
State ; and he issues warrants upon the state treasurer 
for the payment of those he deems valid. He computes 
the amount of appropriations necessary for the running 
expenses of the State, and when passed by the Legisla- 
ture levies them upon the taxable property of the State. 
He is ex officio land commissioner; and as such he has 



DEPARTMENTS OF STATE GOVERNMENT. 3 I 

power to sell or lease, subject to law, the school, inter- 
nal improvement, and other lands belonging to the 
State. 

Treasurer. — The treasurer collects state taxes, inter- 
est on bonds held by the State ; in short, moneys due it 
from whatever source. He pays interest on bonds 
issued by the State itself, distributes the funds of the 
state institutions and public schools, and pays on the 
warrant of the auditor any and all of the lawful obliga- 
tions of the State. To insure care and honesty, he is 
frequently required to make an exact statement of his 
receipts and disbursements, and the treasury is subject 
to periodic inspection by the governor, auditor, and sec- 
retary of state acting jointly. 

Attorney-General. — The attorney-general advises the 
Legislature and state officials upon all difficult points of 
law referred to him, and in such cases his opinions have 
the force of statute law, until set aside by decisions 
of the supreme court or further enactments of the Leg- 
islature. He is also prosecuting attorney or directing 
counsel in all cases to which the State is directly a 
party. 

Section III. — Judicial Department. 

Courts. — The Constitution establishes a supreme 
court, district, probate, and justice courts, and provides 
that other inferior courts may be established by legisla- 
tive enactment. 

Supreme Court. — At present the supreme court con- 
sists of a chief justice and four associate justices. The 
term of each is six years. The court appoints a reporter 
to note its decisions and proceedings. It also has a 



32 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 

clerk who is elected by the people once in four years ; 
but in case of a vacancy in his office a majority of the 
justices have power to fill it. In certain remedial cases 
the court has original jurisdiction, and appellate juris- 
diction in all other cases, both as to law and equity. It 
sometimes happens that a majority or all of the justices 
are disqualified to try a case by reason of personal rela- 
tions to it. Under such circumstances, the governor 
or, if he too is party to it, the lieutenant-governor, 
appoints judges of the district court to serve; and for 
the cases in dispute, they exercise the full power of 
justices of the supreme court. 

District Courts. — For judicial purposes the State is 
divided into districts, each having a court styled the 
district court. At present there are sixteen district 
courts in the State. Each district may have one or 
more judges, as prescribed by law, and elects its own 
judges for a term of six years. There are now twenty- 
eight district judges. A judge must reside in his dis- 
trict when elected, and continue to reside in it until his 
term expires. 

Each district court has a clerk in each county within 
its district. He is elected by the people of the county, 
and his term of sendee is four years. 

The district courts have original jurisdiction in civil 
cases when the amount in dispute exceeds a hundred 
dollars, and in criminal cases if the term of imprison- 
ment exceeds three months. Their appellate jurisdic- 
tion is prescribed by law. 

Probate Courts. — There is a probate court in each 
county. It has one judge elected by the people for a 
term of two years. He appoints his own clerk, but the 



DEPARTMENTS OE STATE GOVERNMENT. 33 

Legislature may at any time provide for the election of 
a clerk. The duties of a judge of probate include the 
settlement of estates, the appointment of guardians for 
minors and for adults mentally diseased, and the issuing 
of orders for the incorporation of cities. 

Justices of the Peace. — The Legislature determines 
the number of justices of the peace. At the present 
time there are two in each township or village, and two 
or more in each city. Save in certain cases, such as 
attachments of property, the jurisdiction of a justice 
court does not extend beyond the limits of the county 
in which it is situated. The jurisdiction of a justice of 
the peace does not extend to civil cases involving a 
money value greater than one hundred dollars, nor to 
criminal cases whose penalty is more than three months' 
imprisonment. 

Miscellaneous Provisions. — The Constitution provides 
that the judges of the supreme and district courts 
* l shall be men learned in the law " ; that their compen- 
sation shall not be diminished during their terms ; and 
that they shall receive no other fees or rewards. 

The judges of all other courts not mentioned above 
must be elected from the cities or counties for which 
the courts were created ; but a term of service cannot 
be greater than seven years without a new election. 

The justices of the supreme and district courts are 
not eligible to United States or other state offices. 

The Legislature can create new judicial districts and 
change the boundaries of old, but by so doing cannot 
dismiss a judge from office. 

A court commissioner, with the power of a district 
judge-at -chambers is elected for each county. 



34 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 

All legal pleadings and proceedings begin, "The 
State of Minnesota" and end, "against the peace and 
dignity of the State of Minnesota." 



QUESTIONS, TOPICS, AND SUGGESTIONS FOR 
REVIEW. 

Designed to recall what has been learned and to suggest further thought, 
reading, and study. 

i. How many houses are there in the Minnesota Legislature, 
and how are their memberships determined? 

2. What are the qualifications and terms of state senators and 
representatives ? 

3. State ten powers belonging to both houses. 

4. State five duties and obligations of both houses. 

5. What privileges do legislators possess? 

6. What restrictions are placed upon the members and houses? 

7. State eleven forms of special legislation that are forbidden. 

8. What powers and restrictions are peculiar to the House? 

9. What powers and restrictions are peculiar to the Senate? 

10. Through what order must and through what order may a 
bill pass before it can become a law ? 

1 1 . Name the six chief executive officers of Minnesota. 

12. What are the duties of the governor? 

13. What are the duties of the lieutenant-governor? 

14. What are the duties of the secretary of state? 

15. What are the duties of the auditor? 

16. What are the duties of the treasurer? 

17. What are the duties of the attorney-general? 

18. Describe the organization of the supreme court. 

19. How are the district courts constituted, and how many dis- 
tricts and judges are there at the present time? 

20. What is the jurisdiction of a probate court? 

21. State four important points respecting justices of the peace. 

22. What does the Constitution say in reference to judges of the 
supreme and district courts ? 

23. What are the duties of clerks of courts and court commis- 
sioners? 



ADMIXISTRA TIVE DEPARTMENTS. 



CHAPTER V. 

ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENTS, BUREAUS, COM- 
MISSIONS, AND OFFICERS. 

Ix a great state the public business increases rapidly 
in proportion to the general development of the state 
itself. This has given rise in Minnesota to various 
departments, commissions, bureaus, and offices more or 
less closely related to the chief executive departments 
already considered. 

Adjutant General. — While the governor of the State 
is the nominal commander-in-chief of its militia, its 
actual direction and command is delegated to the adju- 
tant general. Consequently all general orders to the 
Minnesota National Guard are issued by him. By stat- 
ute, also, he is made prosecuting attorney or agent for 
all worthy soldiers and sailors, or the widows, orphans, 
and dependent parents of the same, who are seeking 
pensions from the United States. In this capacity, he 
serves without fee or reward of any kind. 

Insurance Department. — The head of this department 
is called the insurance commissioner. It is his duty to 
prevent dishonest insurance companies from doing busi- 
ness in the State ; to see that honest companies do not 
ignorantly or carelessly neglect its laws in reference to 
the security and payment of losses ; and to collect fees 
from these companies for defraying the expenses of the 



36 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 

department, relieving injured firemen, and helping to 
maintain better fire departments in the cities of the 
State. 

Department of Public Instruction. — This department 
is under the direction of the superintendent of public 
instruction. His chief duties are — 

i . To confer from time to time with the county superintendents 
respecting the best methods of organization and discipline for the 
public schools. 

2. To conduct teachers' institutes and training schools annually 
at suitable places throughout the State. 

3. To collect and arrange statistics showing the condition of the 
public schools and other educational institutions. 

4. To apportion the public school funds semiannually. 

5. To make to the Legislature at its regular sessions a compre- 
hensive report of the educational condition of the public schools and 
higher institutions of learning. 

The superintendent is also ex officio member and 
secretary of the State Normal and High School Boards 
and member of the Board of Regents of the University. 

Railroad and Warehouse Commission. — This commis- 
sion consists of three members appointed by the gov- 
ernor. They have power to fix and enforce a regular 
and equitable schedule of rates upon the railroads of 
the State. They also have power to supervise the grain 
trade at terminal points like St. Paul, Minneapolis, and 
Duluth. Acting in this capacity, they fix the "grades " 
or relative qualities of grain, and appoint inspectors and 
weighers to carry out their directions. 

Dairy and Food Commission. — This board is made up 
of a chief and two assistant commissioners, a chemist, 
and a secretary. Through its authorized agents it care- 



ADMRYISTRA Til r E DEPAR TMEXTS. 



0/ 



fully inspects the dairies and food markets to detect and 
punish the vendors of spurious and adulterated dairy 
products and other foods. Everything, beginning with 
careful analyses of specimens by the chemist, is carried 
out systematically, resulting in great good to consumers. 

Land Commissioner. — The State of Minnesota owns 
thousands of acres of agricultural, mineral, and timber 
lands, classified otherwise as school, swamp, and inter- 
nal improvement lands. To protect, lease, and sell 
these requires a great deal of labor. This responsible 
duty is assigned by law to the state auditor, who is ex 
officio land commissioner. 

Printing Commission. — The secretary of state, auditor, 
and treasurer are the commissioners of printing. They 
let the contracts for printing blanks, reports, docu- 
ments, and forms of whatever character required. The 
person holding the contracts, for a specified time, is 
called the public printer, and the person employed by 
the commission to supervise the work, as to form, qual- 
ity, and charges, is called the expert printer. 

Commissioner of Statistics. — At one time this officer 
was the sreneral statistician of the State, but now his 
duties are confined to the collecting of such agricultural 
statistics as are deemed of economic value. At present 
the assistant secretary of state is commissioner of sta- 
tistics. 

Fish Commission. — It is the duty and work of the 
fish commissioners to stock the lakes and rivers of the 
State with the best varieties of fish suited to its climatic 
conditions. To do this, they have established hatch- 
eries where the young fish are developed from the egg 
until old enousrh for distribution. 

o 



38 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 

Bureau of Labor. — This bureau is an outgrowth of 
certain labor movements immediately preceding the 
year 1887. It is required, first of all, to see that all 
laws relating to the welfare of the laboring classes in 
factories and other places are faithfully carried out. 
This it prepares itself to do by personal inspection of 
places of labor. Some of the laws to be enforced relate 
to the employment of children, matters of health, and 
protection against accidents. In the second place, the 
bureau is required to collect statistics pertaining to the 
various phases of the industrial and social conditions of 
the laboring classes. These statistics it presents bien- 
nially to the Legislature. 

Public Examiner. — The public examiner holds a 
very important position. He is a financial agent of 
the State with full power to inspect and supervise the 
books and business methods of all county and state finan- 
cial officers, of banks organized under state laws, of 
loan and trust companies, national building associations 
as to their business within the State, and local building 
associations in towns of ten thousand or more inhabi- 
tants. The work of this officer has already brought 
about needed business reforms and insured greater hon- 
esty in dealing among these institutions and officers. 

Boiler Inspector. — The great loss of life and prop- 
erty from the improper handling of boilers led to the 
appointment of a boiler inspector and assistants. No 
person can now run a steam engine, or be master or 
pilot of a steam vessel on the inland waters of the 
State, without a license from the inspector. And all 
boilers and steam vessels must be examined annually. 
However, these laws do not apply to locomotive engi- 



ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENTS. 39 

neers, a class of men always skilled, nor to boilers prop- 
erly inspected by insurance companies. 

Inspector of Illuminating Oils. — The duty of this 
officer requires him to inspect all illuminating oils in 
the market of the State, and to prevent the sale of those 
dangerously explosive. He employs several assistants, 
who, like himself, are paid out of fees charged for inspec- 
tion. 

Surveyors of Logs and Lumber. — The lumber inter- 
ests of Minnesota are extensive. Millions of feet of 
logs are annually cut in the pine forests in its northern 
part, and floated down its rivers to the mills and mar- 
kets. Certain officers, called surveyors of logs and 
lumber, are employed to scale or measure these logs 
and to determine the proper owners when the logs are 
being sorted in the booms for the purpose of rafting 
them to owners or purchasers. The surveyors also 
record existing bills of sale, liens, and mortgages, against 
the logs of different owners. The total measurements 
made must be reported to the Legislature biennially. 

State Librarian. — While the state library was estab- 
lished to preserve books, pamphlets, charts, and docu- 
ments of a miscellaneous character, it is made up for 
the most part of books of law to which all citizens of 
the State may have free access. The library is under the 
direction of the judges of the supreme court, but in 
the immediate charge of an appointive officer called the 
state librarian. 

State Geologist. — The state geologist, strictly speak- 
ing, is not a state officer and does his work under the 
direction of the regents of the University. Yet his 
work is special in character, and is performed for the 



40 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 

people of the State at large. Under him the geological 
and natural history surveys of the State have been car- 
ried on steadily for many years, and very valuable per- 
manent results have been obtained and published. 



>i*:c 



CHAPTER VI. 

BOARDS OF CONTROL, SOCIETIES, AND ASSOCIA- 
TIONS. 

Still farther removed from the chief executive de- 
partments than those studied in the last chapter, yet 
performing very important functions, we find several 
boards, societies, and associations. 

Boards of Control. — These boards having very clearly 
defined directory power, are sometimes called boards of 
control. It will be seen that four of them pertain to 
the health of the people ; one to their financial and one 
to their legal welfare ; and one to the economic inter- 
ests of the producing classes. They are named and 
described as follows : — 

i. The Board of Equalization is composed of the governor, 
auditor, attorney-general, and one elector from each judicial district. 
It meets every September and equalizes the valuations placed by 
assessors upon the real and personal property throughout the 
State. 

2. The Board of Medical Examiners is composed of ten physi- 
cians of known ability and good standing. All applicants for 
licenses to practise medicine must pass its examinations. In this 
way incompetent persons are barred from imposing upon the peo- 
ple. 



BOARDS OF CONTROL. 4 1 

3. The Board of Pharmacy consists of five pharmacists. All 
retailers and dispensers of drugs must hold its certificates. 

4. The Board of Dental Examiners has the granting of licenses 
to dentists. It has five members who are practising dentists. 

5. The Board of Health and Vital Statistics is composed of 
seven physicians. It is required "to make sanitary investigations 
and inquiries respecting the causes of disease, especially of epidem- 
ics ; the sources of mortality, and the effects of localities, employ- 
ments, conditions, and circumstances on the public health. 11 

6. The Board of Law Examiners has one member for each con- 
gressional district. It examines all candidates for admission to the 
bar in respect to their legal abilities. 

7. The Board of Farmers 1 Institutes consists of six members. 
Its duties require it to hold institutes or conventions for the pur- 
pose of imparting knowledge concerning the best methods of agri- 
culture, horticulture, dairying, and stock-raising. 

Societies. — There are four societies organized under 
the laws of the State, three of them in a large degree 
supported by its bounty, which deserve notice. 

1. The Agricultural Society has extensive grounds and buildings 
in the city of St. Paul. By its suggestive annual exhibits and 
liberal premiums it is doing much to promote agricultural prog- 
ress. 

2. The Horticultural Society gives special attention to the ad- 
vancement of pomology, horticulture, and arboriculture. 

3. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is doing 
in a faithful way the noble work expressed in its name. It has 
many branches. Its officers have the power of constables, which 
they exercise freely whenever cases of extreme cruelty occur. 

4. The Historical Society was organized under the laws of the 
Territory. It is the oldest society in the State, and receives from it 
a liberal annual appropriation. Its most important function is to 
collect all valuable antiquarian relics and historical data, recent and 
aboriginal, pertaining to the State and Northwest. Beyond that, 
its historical collections and researches are general. 



42 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 

Associations. — Two important associations are sus- 
tained by the State. 

i . The Dairyman's Association disseminates knowledge respect- 
ing the best modes of dairying, and holds annual fairs at which it 
distributes premiums. 

2. The Forestry Association has for its purposes the preserva- 
tion of the native forests, and the planting and cultivation of new 
forests. 



STATE INSTITUTIONS. 43 



CHAPTER VII. 

STATE INSTITUTIONS OF CORRECTION AND 
CHARITY. 

The care which a state bestows upon its unfortunate 
citizens and children is one of the best indications of 
its progress in civilization. Measured by this standard, 
Minnesota compares well with her sister states. 

Board of Corrections and Charities. — The general 
supervision of the institutions of correction and charity, 
state or local, is delegated by law to the State Board of 
Corrections and Charities. This board has six mem- 
bers, of whom, for obvious reasons, not more than three 
can belong to the same political party. Its chief duties 
are specified as follows : — 

1. To inspect the institutions under its charge. 

2. To investigate, under the governor's direction, cases of mis- 
management. 

3. To prescribe the forms of their statistical reports. 

4. To criticise the plans of local jails and poor-houses with a 
view to improving them. 

5. To co-operate in every way possible with executive boards 
and officers in order to promote the economic and moral welfare of 
these institutions. 

6. To report biennially to the Legislature. 

Insane Asylums. — M innesota has three insane asy- 
lums ; the First, so called, at St. Peter, the Second at 
Rochester, and the Third at Fergus Falls. The build- 



44 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 

ings belonging to them are extensive and fitted up in 
the most approved manner. These asylums are under 
the immediate direction of a board of nine members. 
Each asylum has a steward, a medical superintendent, 
and corps of assistant physicians and attendants. 

Institute for Defectives. — The Institute for Defec- 
tives has three branches ; namely, the School for the 
Deaf, the School for the Blind, and the School for the 
Feeble-Minded. The institute is controlled by a board 
of seven members, two of whom, the governor and 
superintendent of public instruction, are members 
ex officio. Each of these schools has a superintendent 
and a faculty of competent instructors. The Institute 
is situated at Faribault. 

State Public School. — The State Public School for 
Neglected and Dependent Children is situated at Owa- 
tonna. It is an institution of recent establishment and 
is controlled by a board of three members. Its name 
indicates the classes of children admitted to it. It has 
already done great good. The boys are taught to work 
in the gardens and shops, and the girls are taught sew- 
ing, cooking, and other domestic duties. Besides, all 
are instructed in the branches of a common school edu- 
cation. As soon as possible after they enter school, 
homes in families are found for the children ; but for 
some time after adoption the authorities of the school 
continue to watch over them to insure proper treat- 
ment. If the children do not receive this, they are 
brought back to the school. 

Soldiers' Home. — The Minnesota Soldiers' Home is 
situated at Minnehaha Falls, within the corporate limits 
of Minneapolis. It is under the direction of a board of 



STATE INSTITUTIONS, 45 

seven trustees. It was established for the benefit of 
aged and infirm soldiers and sailors of the United States 
who also are citizens of Minnesota. 

The Reform School. — The Reform School, formerly 
called the House of Refuge, was for many years situ- 
ated at St. Paul, but is now at Red Wing, where a large 
farm and modern buildings and appliances have been 
provided for it. Its board of managers consists of five 
members. 

Boys and girls who are too incorrigible to be con- 
trolled at home are sent to it. Besides the rudiments 
of an education, they are taught useful trades. The 
requirements of the institution are rigid but kind. 
Through its discipline many vicious children have been 
redeemed. 

The Reformatory. — Hitherto, in the history of states 
and countries, persons guilty of crimes, whether of a 
mild or of a heinous character, have been thrown into 
prison and often subjected to harsh not to say cruel 
treatment. The people are now beginning to take 
another view of the matter, and to assert that a state 
must seek to reform as well as to restrain and punish 
its criminals. With this end in view, the State of 
Minnesota has established a reformatory at St. Cloud. 
Persons who have taken the first steps in crime, but 
who are too old to send to the Reform School, are impris- 
oned in the Reformatory. The system of the Reform- 
atory is paternal and elastic. The severity of a prisoner's 
punishment is largely determined by his attitude toward 
discipline and reformation. The Reformatory is still in 
the experimental stage, but is doing a noble work. It 
is under the control of a board of six managers. 



46 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 

The State Prison. — The State Prison still exists for 
hardened criminals who are dangerous, or unsusceptible 
to influences of reform. But hereafter in its adminis- 
tration it is certain to feel the influence of the milder 
methods of the Reformatory. This prison is situated at 
Stillwater. There are five managers in its board. The 
chief officer of the prison is called the warden. He is 
assisted by deputy wardens and guards. 



STATE INSTITUTIONS. 47 



QUESTIONS, TOPICS, AND SUGGESTIONS FOR 
REVIEW. 

Designed to recall what has been learned and to suggest further thought, 
reading, and study. 

1 . What are the duties of the adjutant general ? 

2. What are the duties of the insurance commissioner? 

3. Specify five duties of the superintendent of public instruction. 

4. What are the duties of the Railroad and Warehouse Com- 
mission? 

5. What are the duties of the Dairy and Food Commission? 

6. Who acts as land commissioner, and what are his duties ? 

7. State clearly what you know about the Printing Commission, 
the public printer, and the expert printer. 

8. What were the former duties and what are the present duties 
of the commissioner of statistics ? 

9. For what purpose was the Fish Commission constituted? 

10. Describe the Bureau of Labor and its work. 

1 1 . State the duties of the public examiner. 

12. State the duties of the inspectors of boilers and illuminating 
oil. 

13. What duties belong to a surveyor of logs and lumber? 

14. Tell what you know about the state library and the state 
librarian. 

1 5 . What is the nature of the state geologist's work ? 

16. Name and describe the work of seven boards of control, four 
societies, and two associations, all either fostered or controlled by 
the State. 

17. W T hat are the duties of the Board of Corrections and Chari- 
ties? 

18. Name the insane asylums, and tell where they are situated. 

19. What is the Institute for Defectives? 

20. For what was the State Public School established? 

21. For whom was the Soldiers' Home established? 

22. Compare the Reform School. Reformatory, and State Prison, 
and show in what respects they differ from one another. 



BLACKBOARD OUTLINE. 



i. Common. 



EDUCATION. 

DISTRICTS. 

2. Independent. 



SCHOOLS. 

i. Ungraded. | 

3. State High Schools. 
4. Normal Schools. 



Current 
Local 



3. Special. 

2. Jraded. 
5. University. 



PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDS. 

J General. 

t State School Tax. 

S One Mill County Tax. 

I District Special Tax. 



48 



EDUCATION. 49 



CHAPTER VIII. 

EDUCATION 

The work of education in Minnesota, below the Uni- 
versity and normal schools, is conducted on the district 
system. Of these districts there are three kinds, called 
common, independent, and special. 

Common Districts. — Common districts are organized 
according to law by the county commissioners when 
properly petitioned by the people concerned. There is 
no uniformity in the extent of territory included in these 
districts. Local conditions and circumstances deter- 
mine this. The schools are for the most part ungraded. 
A common school district is controlled by a board of 
three trustees. These officers are named clerk, treas- 
urer, and director. However, the government of the 
district is partly democratic. The most important 
questions relating to it are determined by the people 
at an annual meeting, and special meetings called from 
time to time. Common districts are for the most part 
confined to the country, and are under the supervision 
of a county superintendent. 

Independent Districts. — Independent districts are also 
organized according to statute. These districts are 
peculiar to villages and cities, and their schools are 
usually graded. The government of such districts, like 
the common, is partially democratic. Each has a board 



50 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 

of six members. The officers of the board are a presi- 
dent, secretary, and treasurer. Each district, too, em- 
ploys its own superintendent, examines its own teachers, 
and is not subject to the county superintendent save in 
the matter of making annual reports. 

Special Districts. — Special districts have hitherto 
been organized, and, as might be inferred from the name, 
under special acts of the Legislature whenever peculiar 
municipal and other local conditions seemed to warrant 
it. In general character they are like independent dis- 
tricts, yet are in certain particulars as various in gov- 
ernment and privileges as the acts establishing them. 
Under the amendment to the Constitution preventing 
special legislation, such districts cannot now be organ- 
ized. 

State High Schools. — To encourage higher education, 
the Legislature has enacted a law establishing state high 
schools. These schools in reality belong to the graded 
systems in special and independent districts, but are 
also voluntarily subject to the rules and regulations of 
the State High School Board, which consists of three 
members ; namely, the governor of the State, the presi- 
dent of the University, and the state superintendent of 
public instruction. If found upon inspection to be work- 
ing in accord with the regulations of the board, the 
schools are granted an annual appropriation from the 
state treasury. During the school year ending in 1892, 
there were sixty-two of these schools under state super-* 
vision. 

Normal Schools. — Minnesota has so far four normal 
schools. Together they form what might be called an 
auxiliary system of the public schools, having for their 



EDUCATION. 51 

purpose the education and professional training of 
teachers for these schools. They are situated at Wi- 
nona, Mankato, St. Cloud, and Moorhead. They receive 
an aggregate annual appropriation of seventy-seven 
thousand dollars, and occasional appropriations for per- 
manent improvements. The government of the schools 
is entrusted to a board of nine members, four of whom 
are resident directors. 

University. — The University of Minnesota, situated 
at Minneapolis, is the successor of the Territorial Uni- 
versity. At present it has five important colleges and 
departments described as follows : The College of 
Science, Literature, and Arts, offering three courses of 
study ; the College of Mechanic Arts, offering four 
courses ; the College of Agriculture, to which is attached 
the preparatory School of Agriculture ; the Department 
of Law ; and the Department of Medicine, including the 
College of Medicine and Surgery, the College of Homeo- 
pathic Medicine and Surgery, the College of Dentistry, 
and the School of Pharmacy. 

The University is governed by a board of twelve 
regents. It is supported partly by the interest of its 
permanent fund, and partly by special and standing 
legislative appropriations. Its annual standing appro- 
priation is now sixty-five thousand dollars, and the 
interest on its permanent fund about thirty-five thou- 
sand. The permanent fund amounts to nearly a million 
dollars. Of its land grants, including agricultural col- 
lege lands, about fifty-five thousand acres remain unsold. 

Public School Lands. — The pupil will recall that the 
Organic Act of the territory reserved sections sixteen 
and thirty-six in each township for the support of the 



52 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 

public schools ; that is, the schools described above 
under common, independent, and special districts. By 
legislative enactment, none of these lands can be sold 
for less than five dollars an acre. They often bring 
much more. The money accruing from sales consti- 
tutes a permanent fund, no part of which can ever be 
expended, only the interest being available for the sup- 
port of the schools. At this time the fund amounts to 
about ten million dollars, and there yet remain about 
seven hundred fifty thousand acres of land unsold. 
When all of the lands are sold, it is estimated that the 
fund will amount to nearly twenty million dollars. 

Current and Special School Funds. — The current 
school fund is made up of the annual state school tax 
fund and the general school fund, the latter being the 
annual interest on the permanent fund mentioned in the 
last paragraph. The state school tax is one mill levied 
on the total real estate and personal property valuation 
of the State. The current fund, so made up, is the one 
distributed semiannually by the superintendent of public 
instruction. It amounts now to about a million dollars 
a year. Besides this large fund there are two others. 
One is a local mill tax levied on the property within 
each county, the other is the variable special tax which 
each school district, in order to share in the current 
fund of the State, must vote annually for the running 
expenses of its school, in addition to what it may choose 
to vote for permanent improvements. 



EDUCATION. 53 



QUESTIONS, TOPICS, AND SUGGESTIONS FOR 
REVIEW. 

Designed to recall what has been already learned and to suggest further 
thought, reading, and study. 

i. How is a common school district organized and governed? 

2. How is an independent district organized and governed? 

3. How were special districts organized? 

4. What are state high schools, and how are they supervised? 

5. What is the work for which the normal schools were insti- 
tuted ? 

6. Where are the normal schools situated, and how are they 
supported? 

7. How are the normal schools governed? 

8. Name the departments and colleges of the University. 

9. How is the University governed? 

10. How is the University supported? 

1 1 . What can you say of the public school land ? 

12. What funds constitute the current school fund? 

13. Describe two local school funds. 

14. How large is the permanent school fund at date? 

15. How large is the University fund at date? 



BLACKBOARD OUTLINE. 





LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 






COUNTIES. 








Officers. 




I. 

2. 


Commissioners. 
Auditor. 




7 
8 


Attorney. 
Sheriff. 


3 

4- 
5- 
6. 


Register of Deeds. 
Surveyor. 

Superintendent of Schools. 
Judge of Probate. 


9 

10 

ii 


Coroner. 
Clerk of Court. 
Court Commissioner. 






TOWNSHIPS. 




i. 

2. 


Congressional. 
Organized. 




3- 
4- 


Corporate Powers. 
Meetings. 






Officers. 




2. 

3- 


Supervisors. 

Clerk. 

Treasurer. 




5- 
6. 

7- 


Assessor. 

Overseers of Highways 

Board of Review. 


4- 


Constables. 




8. 


Justices. 






VILLAGES. 








Officers. 




i. 


President n 




4- 


Marshal. 


2. 


Trustees > CounciL 




5- 


Constables. 


3- 


Recorder ) 




6. 

7- 


Justices. 

Street Commissioner. 



54 



LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 55 



CHAPTER IX. 

LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 

So far the pupil has been studying the governments 
of the Territory and State in their many phases, but 
several important forms of local government yet remain 
for him to consider. They are the governments of 
counties, townships, villages, and cities. 

Counties. — The county is the largest geographical 
subdivision of the State. Minnesota has seventy-eight 
organized and two unorganized counties at the time this 
book goes to press. The areas of some of them are 
quite extensive. Minnesota would make about sixty- 
four states as large as Rhode Island, and its largest 
counties would each make from two to five such states. 
Thus it will be seen that the extent of its domain, not to 
speak of other things, makes the government of one of 
these counties a matter of considerable importance. 

County Officers. — The county officers in Minnesota 
are a board of county commissioners, auditor, treasurer, 
register of deeds, surveyor, superintendent of schools, 
judge of probate, county attorney, sheriff, coroner, clerk 
of court, and court commissioner. The duties of most 
of these officers are explained on pp. 29-32 of the other 
book in this volume, save that the pupil should read 
county attorney in place of district attorney. Those 
mentioned under courts in this book are the judge of 



56 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 

probate, the clerk of courts, and the court commissioner. 
The surveyor determines the boundary lines and meas- 
urements of lands concerning which disputes have 
arisen. 

Townships. — The Minnesota township, geographically 
speaking, is six miles square. How it is subdivided and 
related to other townships is clearly explained on pp. 
126, 127 of the book preceding this. 

Organizing Towns. — Before a township is organized it 
is called a congressional township. To be organized, 
it must have at least twenty-five legal voters residing in 
it. If a majority of these petition the county commis- 
sioners to organize the town, the commissioners must 
proceed to do so, providing, as directed by law, to deter- 
mine the boundaries of the township, to name it, and to 
designate the place for holding its first town meeting. 

Corporate Powers. — An organized town is a corpora- 
tion having power — 

" 1. To sue and be sued. 

"2. To purchase and hold lands within its own limits, and for 
the use of its inhabitants, subject to the powers of the Legislature. 

"3. To make such contracts, purchase and hold such personal 
property as may be necessary for the exercise of its corporate or 
administrative powers. 

" 4. To make such orders for the disposition, regulation, or use of 
its corporate property as may be deemed conducive to the interests 
of its own inhabitants. 11 

Town Meetings. — Each town holds an annual meet- 
ing. The time fixed for this is the second Tuesday of 
March. At this meeting, the electors choose three 
supervisors, one of whom is chairman, a town clerk, treas- 
urer, assessor, two justices of the peace, two constables, 



LOCAL GOVERNMENT. ST 

and one overseer of highways for each road district. 
The justices and constables serve two years each, the 
other officers one year each. The electors have power 
also at this meeting — 

i. To provide for pounds and pound masters. 

2. To direct legal actions in cases to which the town is party, 
and to provide means therefor. 

3. To regulate fence-building and the impounding of animals. 

4. To pass herd laws. 

5. To impose limited penalties for breaking the rules and regu- 
lations of the town, save in cases specified in law. 

6. To raise money for constructing roads and bridges, for 
supporting the poor, and paying the necessary expenses of the 
town. 

Special town meetings may be called to fill vacancies 
in office, or transact business, whenever the supervisors, 
justices, and clerk, or any two of them, with twelve or 
more freeholders, file a statement in the clerk's office 
declaring the meeting necessary. 

Duties of Supervisors. — The supervisors are the 
chief executive officers of the town. All business not 
delegated to the other officers, or belonging to the 
people themselves, may be transacted by them. In 
particular, they may or shall, as the case may be, — 

1 . Act as fence viewers . 

2. Act as a board of health. 

3. Act as a board of auditors in the matter of bills payable by 
the town. 

4. Draw orders for the disbursement of town moneys. 

5. Direct the legal actions of the town. 

6. Act as judges at elections. 

When acting as an auditing board, if one of the 
supervisors is absent, one of the justices must be called 



58 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF MINNESOTA. 

in to act for him ; or if two are absent, two justices 
must serve for them. 

Ordinarily, two supervisors constitute a quorum. 

Clerk's Duties. — The town clerk must record the 
minutes of the town meetings, and orders, directions, 
rules, and regulations passed at such meetings. He 
acts as the custodian of all books of record belonging 
to the town, and must file and preserve its papers and 
audited accounts. He is required, too, to send the 
names of the newly elected constables and justices to 
the clerk of the district court, to post notices of town 
meetings, and to act as one of the clerks at elections. 

Treasurer's Duties. — The treasurer receives, takes 
charge of, and disburses the money of the town. All 
disbursements must be made upon the order of the 
town or its supervisors. The treasurer must keep an 
accurate account of the amounts and sources of receipts, 
and the amounts and purposes of disbursements. He 
is required to file a detailed statement of his accounts, 
with the town clerk, within the five days preceding the 
annual meeting. 

Assessor. — It is the duty of the assessor to deter- 
mine as accurately as may be the valuation of each 
piece of real estate in the town, and the valuation of 
each resident's personal property. This is for the pur- 
pose of taxation. 

Overseers of Highways. — The overseers of highways 
look after the construction of roads and bridges and see 
that they are kept in repair. 

Justices and Constables. — The duties of a justice 
have been sufficiently explained in Section III. of 
Chapter IV. A constable is a court officer who serves 
papers and makes arrests. 



LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 59 

Board of Review. — The assessor, town clerk, and 
chairman of the supervisors constitute a board of review 
to see that no property within the township, through 
oversight or otherwise, escapes taxation ; and to so 
equalize valuations that nobody's property is unjustly 
taxed. 

Villages. — It often happens that commercial, manu- 
facturing, or other interests create thickly settled com- 
munities within a township. These communities soon 
find its government inadequate to provide for their 
peculiar needs, and take steps to sever themselves from 
it by securing village charters. Such a community in 
Minnesota must have at least one hundred seventy- 
five inhabitants before it can be organized as a village, 
and at least thirty of them must petition the county 
commissioners for the organization. In general, a vil- 
lage has the same corporate powers and obligations as a 
town. 

Officers of a Village. — The officers of a village cor- 
respond very nearly to those of a town. A president, 
a treasurer, a recorder, a marshal, a street commissioner, 
and three trustees are elected for one year ; and two 
justices of the peace and two constables for two years. 

The Village Council. — The president, recorder, and 
three trustees constitute the village council or executive 
board. It will be seen from what follows that their 
powers while in some cases parallel to those of town 
supervisors are more extensive. They may — 

i . Appoint pound masters, village attorney, sextons, fire wardens, 
street commissioners, special and permanent police, a board of 
health, and three judges of election for each election district. 

2. Number houses, lay out streets, establish a fire department. 



60 CIVIL GOVERNMENT OE MINNESOTA. 

establish markets, purchase and care for cemeteries, grant licenses 
of various kinds, restrain lotteries, establish and maintain public 
libraries, build watchhouses or lock-ups. provide street lights, regu- 
late the use of public wells and cisterns, establish and regulate har- 
bors and docks, build levees, and pass and enforce all necessary 
ordinances within their province. 

Cities. — Conditions similar to those leading to the 
incorporation of villages, but greater in number, lead to 
the more complex organizations of cities. The govern- 
ment of Minnesota cities is similar to that described 
elsewhere in this volume, and need not have a more 
particular explanation here. 

Nature of Local Government. — The thoughtful pupil 
has no doubt noticed that local government in the town- 
ship is somewhat democratic, and becomes in the vil- 
lage more representative in character. It may be stated 
in conclusion that it is still more centralized in cities. 
This centralization is a blessing when officers are honest 
and capable, but often works great harm when they are 
dishonest or inefficient. At the present time, how to 
secure an honest and efficient municipal government is 
an unsolved problem. 



LOCAL GOVERNMENT. 6l 



QUESTIONS. TOPICS. AND SUGGESTIONS FOR 
REVIEW. 

Designed to recall what has been learned and to suggest further thought, 
reading, and study. 

1 . How many organized and how many unorganized counties 
in Minnesota? 

2. Give the official titles of county officers. 

3. State briefly the duties of each county officer. 

4. What is a congressional township? 

5. How are townships organized? 

6. State the corporate powers of towns. 

7. When and how are township officers chosen? 

8. When must town meetings be held? When may they be 
held? 

9. Name the town officers and the terms for which they serve. 

10. Name six things the electors have power to do at a town 
meeting. 

11. How many supervisors are there, and what is one of them 
called? 

12. Specify five duties of the supervisors. 

13. What are the town clerk's duties? 

14. What are the town treasurer's duties? 

1 5 . What are the assessor's duties ? 

16. What are the duties of the overseers of highways? 

17. What are the duties of a constable? 
iS. Why are villages organized? 

19. Name the officers of a village. 

20. How is a village council constituted? 

21. What are some of the powers of a village council different 
from those of township supervisors? 

22. What is the nature of local government? 



INDEX. 



Adjutant-general, 35. 
Agricultural Society, 41. 
Assessor, town, 58. 
Associations, 42. 
Attorney, territorial, 16. 
Attorney-general, state, 31. 

Bills, legislative, 28. 
Boards of Control, 40. 
Boiler inspector, 38. 
Boutwell, Missionary, 10. 
Bureau of Labor, 38. 

Calhoun, Lake, mission of, 10. 
Carver, Jonathan, 8. 
Cass, Lewis, enters Minnesota, 9. 
Catlin, Governor, 12. 
Cities, 60. 
Clerk, town, 58. 
Cold Water Cantonment, 8. 
Commissioner of Statistics, 37. 
Common school districts, 49. 
Constables, town, 58. 
Constitution, the, 20. 
Constitution, amendments to, 22. 
Constitution, miscellaneous provi- 
sions of, 33. 
Constitution, ratification of, 21. 
Corrections and Charities, Board of, 

43- 

62 



Council, territorial, 14. 
Council, village, 59. 
Counties, 55. 
County, officers of, 55. 
Court, state supreme, 31. 
Court, territorial supreme, 15,, 
Courts, probate, 32. 
Courts, state, 31. 
Courts, state district, 32. 
Courts, territorial, 15. 
Courts, territorial district, 16. 
Courts, territorial minor, 16. 

Dairy and Food Commission, 36. 
Dairyman's Association, 42. 
Dakotas, first mentioned, 6. 
Delegate of territory, 17. 
Dental Examiners, 41. 
Districts, school, 49. 
Du Luth, 6. 

Education in the state, 49. 
Education in the territory, 17. 
Enabling Act, 19. 
English supremacy, 7. 
Equalization, Board of, 40. 
Executive, state, 29. 
Executive, territorial, 13. 
Expeditions, commercial and scien- 
tific, 9. 



IXDEX. 



63 



Expeditions, military, 8. 
Explorers, early, 5. 

Farmers' Institutes, Board of, 41. 
Fish Commission, 37. 
Forestry Association, 42. 
Fort Snelling, when built, 8. 
Forts first built, 6. 
French supremacy, 7. 
Funds, school, 52. 
Fur traders, 8. 

Galtier, Father Lucian, 10. 
Geologist, state, 39. 
Government, local, 60. 
Government, state, departments of, 

25- 
Government, territorial, transition 

to, 18. 
Governor of the state, 29. 
Groselliers, visits Lake Superior, 6. 

Health, Board of, 41. 
Hennepin, Father, 6. 
High schools, 50. 
Highways, overseers of, 58. 
Historical Society, 41. 
Horticultural Society, 41. 
House, state Legislature, 25. 
House, things peculiar to, 28. 
House, territorial Legislature, 14. 

Independent school districts, 49. 
Insane asylums, 43. 
Inspector of illuminating oils, 39. 
Institute for Defectives, 44. 
Insurance Department, 35. 
Itasca, Lake, visited, 9. 

Judicial Department, state, 31. 
Justices of the peace, ^. 
Justices, town, 58. 



Lac qui Parle, Mission of, 10. 

Land Commissioner, ^y. 

Lands, school, 51. 

Law Examiners, Board of, 41. 

Laws, 28. 

Leavenworth, Colonel, 8. 

Legislative Assembly, territorial, 

14. 
Legislature, duties and obligations 

of, 26. 
Legislature, members of, 26. 
Legislature, powers of, 26. 
Legislature, privileges of, 27. 
Legislature, restrictions upon, 27. 
Legislature, state, 25. 
Le Sueur, 6. 
Librarian, state, 39. 
Lieutenant-governor, 30. 
Local government, 60. 
Long, Major Stephen H., 8-9. 
Louis XIV., 5. 

Marshal, territorial, 16. 
Medical Examiners, Board of, 40. 
Military expeditions, 8. 
Minnesota an unknown land, 5. 
Minnesota first entered, 6. 
Minnesota, territorial jurisdiction 

of, 11. 
Missionaries, 10. 

National Guard of Minnesota, 35. 
Xicolet, Jean, 5. 
Normal schools, 50. 
Northwest, yielded to the United 
States, 8. 

Officers, territorial, appointment of, 

17- 

Organic Act, 12. 



64 



INDEX. 



Perrol, 6. 

Pharmacy, Board of, 41. 

Pike, General Z. M., 8. 

Pond, Missionaries, 10. 

Prevention Cruelty to Animals, So- 
ciety of, 41. 

"Printing Commission, 37. 

Prison, state, 46. 

Probate courts, 32. 

Public examiner, 38. 

Public Instruction, Department of, 
36. 

Public School, state, 44. 

Radisson, visits Lake Superior, 6. 
Railroad and Warehouse Commis- 
sion, 36. 
Reformatory, 45. 
Reform School, 45. 
Review, Town Board of, 59. 
Riggs, Missionary, 10. 

Sault Ste. Marie, visited, 6. 
.Schedule of state Constitution, 

21. 
Schoolcraft, enters Minnesota, 9. 
School districts, 49. 
School funds, 52. 
Secretary of state, 30. 
Secretary, territorial, -13. 
Senate, state, 25. 



Senate, things peculiar to, 28. 
Settlements, first, 10. 
Sioux, first mentioned, 6. • 
Societies, 41. 
Soldiers' Home, 44. 
Special school districts, 50. 
State, admission to Union, 22. 
State geologist, 39. 
State librarian, 39. 
State, organizing the, 19. 
Supervisors, town, 57. 
Supreme court, state, 31. 
Supreme court, territorial, 15. 
Surveyors of logs and lumber, 39. 

Town meetings, 56. 

Towns, corporate powers of, 56. 

Townships, 56. 

Towns, organizing, 56. 

Treasurer, state, 31. 

Treasurer, town, 58. 

University, state, 51. 

Village council, 59. 
Village officers, 59. 
Villages, government of, 59. 
Voyageurs, 6. 

Williamson, Missionary, 10. 
Wisconsin, territory of, 12. 



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